When I clicked on the TM logo in the Dock, I got a Star Wars desktop with copies of a Finder Window (Desktop folder) receding into a black hole. At the bottom, it said "Cancel", "Current", and something else. Everything was still slow. I canceled. Is this the screen you go to in order to get something out of Time Machine? It sure doesn't seem that the SP TM panel is the place for that.

When I clicked on the TM logo in the Dock, I got a Star Wars desktop with copies of a Finder Window (Desktop folder) receding into a black hole. At the bottom, it said "Cancel", "Current", and something else. Everything was still slow. I canceled. Is this the screen you go to in order to get something out of Time Machine? It sure doesn't seem that the SP TM panel is the place for that.

That's where you go to restore a particular Time Machine backup or data from a Time Machine backup. When you were in the "Star Wars" mode, did you notice on the right side of the screen that there were dates that showed up in a sort of purple red color? Clicking on any one of those dates will bring up a Finder like view of the backup you made on that date. It's from there that you would do a restore.

Yes, slow down when TM is running a backup is normal (and annoying). chscag covered the StarWars screen. Another way to go back in time is to click on one of the two arrows at the bottom right of the screen, just outside the Finder window. They take you back in Time as well. (All very "cute" to have the Time Machine theme going, eh?)

So, since I use Spaces, I assume that I can assign TM to one so that I can switch back and forth from Safari and TM to check these things out. Correct? (I'll try it when I have a chance - but leaving for vacation in two more days!)

Don't think so. TM seems to take over when you invoke it, blanking out other screens (I have multiple monitors, running Mavericks. When I invoke TM, it takes over the MBP and then blacks out the external monitor and ignoring the swipe motions that change desktops.)